The Indian Junior Men’s Hockey Team defeated Canada 10-1 in their third match of the ongoing FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Malaysia 2023 at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur on Saturday. With this win, India finished at second position in the Pool C table and have qualified for the quarterfinals of the tournament.
For India, Aditya Arjun Lalage (8’, 43’), Rohit (12', 55’), Amandeep Lakra (23’, 51’), Vishnukant (42’), Rajinder (42’), Kushwaha Sourabh Anand (51’) and Uttam Singh (58’) were the goal scorers. For Canada, Jude Nicholson (20’) was on target.
In the first quarter, India made an aggressive start in the opening minutes as they put pressure on Canada’s defence. With constant attacking, India took 1-0 lead through Aditya Arjun Lalage (8’), scoring an excellent field goal. The Indian team’s forwards stitched together clever strategy that forced the Canadian defenders to make errors. The plan worked as India managed to get a PC which was successfully converted by Rohit (12’) and India doubled their lead.
The second quarter saw Canada bounce back when Jude Nicholson scored a fine field goal in the 21st minute to get them back in the game. However, that did not deter the Indian team as they remained determined for a win. India then extended their lead as Amandeep Lakra (23’) successfully converted the PC. At the end of the first-half, India were leading Canada by 3-1.With Canada trying to find ways to bounce back, the third quarter was entertaining with both teams displaying quick-fire hockey with both teams stepping up the ante in attack. With India putting constant pressure on Canadian defenders, India extended their lead as Vishnukant Singh (42’) found the back of the net scoring a field goal. India made it 5-1 through Rajinder Singh (42’). In the dying minutes of the quarter, Aditya Arjun Lalage (43’) scored his second goal of the game and extended India’s lead further to 6-1.
With 15 minutes left on the clock, India started mounted more pressure on Canada. With constant attacking moves, Kushwaha Sourabh Anand (51’), Amandeep Lakra (51’) and Rohit (55’) added three more goals to tally and made it 9-1 to India. Captain Uttam Singh made it 10-1 to India with two minutes remaining. The match ended with India winning 10-1.
